Abu
Dhabi and Maui – what links these diverse geographical sites other than the
fact that both appear to be typographical errors?For the world of Masters swimming, it is that
both played a significant role in events leading to a current crisis for USMS.

Open
water and long distance swims offer great potential for USMS growth.North Carolina’s Masters Swim Committee and
the USMS Dixie Zone have proposed an Open Water Championship Series for
2013.Several event organizers have
already approached NCMS Registrar George Simon about sanctioning events for
2013.Triathletes are courted with ardor
by USMS.Despite jocular ribbing by
“real” swimmers about triathletes’ use offins for an entire workout, or swimming freestyle even during stroke
drills, tri-swimmers are a desirable demographic for USMS.They often prefer open water swimming to pool
swims.

In
addition, there are many former pool swimmers who, having grown tired of the
view of black tile lines and repetitive flip turns, are reinvigorated by the prospect
of open water events.Ben Holland, the
current Secretary of the LMSC for NC, is
a good example of the latter.Another
good example of pool swimmer turned open water swimmer was Fran Crippen.

From
everything I have read and seen, Fran Crippen was an exemplary man.Not only was he a collegiate All-American
swimmer, he had become one of our country’s greatest open water swimmers.He won several events as a professional,
earned back-to-back podium finishes at World Championships, and was a multiple
US National champion.It was not just
his prowess as an athlete that drew people to him, though.He was, by all accounts, one of the most
accessible and friendly of athletes.Every on-line video I’ve watched demonstrated his infectious enthusiasm
and outgoing personality.

Note
that I am using the past tense when referring to Fran Crippen.Tragically, Fran Crippen died during the
final event of the 2010 professional open water season.Despite alleged protests from the athletes
about dangerous air and water temperatures hovering near100 degrees Fahrenheit
on the day of the event, the Abu Dhabi event organizers would not defer the competition.Consequently, when Crippen’s lifeless body
was found several hundred yards from the finish, athletes and fans alike
mourned this senseless loss.

Meanwhile,
the Maui Channel Swim “is one of the most popular masters swimming events in
the nation”.According to its website,Maui has held the longest open water relay
races in the world since 1972.Unfortunately,
the USMS-sanctioned 2011 Maui event was the site of a horrific accident in
which an escort boat inexplicably entered the swim area and literally ran over
an athlete, causing severe injuries.

These
incidents necessarily and appropriately led to a unilateral re-examination of
safety precautions for open water USMS events.Meanwhile, in apparent response to the incidents in Maui and Abu Dhabi, insurance
premiums for open water events have skyrocketed for USMS. USMS leadership and legal representatives have
worked very hard with insurance brokers to maintain accessible insurance for
open water event organizers for 2013.Despite suchefforts, USMS is now faced with
sanctioning fees of thousands of dollars per event.

The
USMS National Office is doing what it can to support the growth of open water
events, setting aside an over-budget authorization of $75,000 to offset
insurance fees for these events.Even
so, local event organizers must either pass along this burdensome cost to
entrants, or incur the nearly a thousand dollar extra expense per competition
themselves.Sanction fees potentially
will move from 2012’s $20 per event to $1000 per event in 2013.The huge insurance cost can only harm USMS’s attempts
to expand its open water involvement, since event organizers are not required
to obtain USMS sanction.

Just as USMS continues to struggle with its
response to the insurance burden, so too is your NC LMSC Board working to
overcome this problem.Open water
swimming is going to grow with or without USMS sanctioning.Your NC Board has several staunch advocates
for USMS-sponsored open water events.To
quote Ben Holland, “the slow decline of an
organization into irrelevance is seldom obvious. In OW, this organization
(USMS) not only has a chance to keep itself relevant, but to push its influence
in the sport we all love substantially beyond where it has ever been”.

In our effort to expand open water
offerings under USMS sanction, should your NC Masters Swim Committee underwrite
the added cost of the insurance fee for the event organizers, recognizing that
the large cost of doing so will benefit only a few competitors (at least
initially)?Alternatively, should
entrants and organizers pay the entire expense of increased insurance?Or is there a middle ground?

Let your NC leadership know your thoughts –
email me your perspective and thoughts, so your Board will best represent the
membership.I will keep you informed in
next month’s newsletter.